Question

How many significant figures should be present in the answer of the following calculations?

1. $\frac {0.02856 × 298.15 × 0.112}{0.5785}$
2. $5 × 5.364$
3. $0.0125 + 0.7864 + 0.0215$

Answer 1

(i) $\frac {0.02856 × 298.15 × 0.112}{0.5785}$
Least precise number of calculation = 0.112
Number of significant figures in the answer
= Number of significant figures in the least precise number
= 3

---

(ii) 5 × 5.364
Least precise number of calculation = 5.364
Number of significant figures in the answer
= Number of significant figures in 5.364
= 4

---

(iii) 0.0125 + 0.7864 + 0.0215
Since the least number of decimal places in each term is four, the number of significant figures in the answer is also 4.